Marine toxins

Seafood products are important both nutritionally and economically. Within Europe, some £12 billion of fishery products are consumed annually and an enormous variety of species are available. Although seafood is rarely implicated in food poisoning, compared to other food sources, it does provide som...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British medical bulletin 2000, Vol.56 (1), p.236-253
Main Authors: Whittle, Kevin, Gallacher, Susan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Food Contamination
Foodborne Diseases - etiology
Foodborne Diseases - prevention & control
Humans
Marine Toxins - poisoning
Phytoplankton
Seafood
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Seafood products are important both nutritionally and economically. Within Europe, some £12 billion of fishery products are consumed annually and an enormous variety of species are available. Although seafood is rarely implicated in food poisoning, compared to other food sources, it does provide some specific human health hazards unique to this particular resource. Generally, these are toxins from toxic microscopic algae which accumulate through the food-chain. The toxins can cause various neurological and gastrointestinal illnesses and, potentially, consumers are exposed from seafood produced within Europe, from imported products, or from seafood eaten while travelling abroad. The symptoms of illness which may be encountered, the source and mode of action of the toxins, and some emerging problems are described. European legislation aims to ensure the quality and safety of seafood products by prohibiting sale of some toxic species, setting toxin limits, requiring monitoring and controlling imports.
ISSN:0007-1420
1471-8391
DOI:10.1258/0007142001902914